Cam follower assemblies are used in many industrial manufacturing and conveying applications. The cam follower assemblies typically include an outer ring disposed around an inner ring or stud with a plurality of rolling elements such as needle rollers disposed in a cavity therebetween. In some cam follower assemblies, there are two rows of cylindrical rollers rotatingly contained inside a single outer ring.
As shown in FIG. 1, one prior art cam follower assembly 100 includes two rows of rollers 111 and 112 surrounding and in rolling engagement with exterior bearing surfaces 121 and 122 of a stud or shaft 130. The stud 130 has an outwardly protruding shoulder 132 that is integral with the stud 130. A first outer ring 141 surrounds the first row of rollers 111; and a second outer ring 142 surrounds the second row of rollers 112. A first end plate 151 is swaged 160 onto the stud 130 at a distal end 130D of the stud 130. The first end plate 151 and the shoulder 132 axially retain the first row of rollers 111 therebetween. A second end plate 152 is interference fit onto the stud 130 at an intermediate area 130E of the stud 130. The second end plate 152 and the shoulder 132 axially retain the second row of rollers 112 therebetween. The first row of rollers 111 rollingly engage an inner bearing surface 143 of the first outer ring 141; and second row of rollers 112 rollingly engage an inner bearing surface 144 of the second outer ring 142.
The prior art cam follower assembly 100 is typically used in applications that operate with rapid changes in the direction of rotation of the outer rings 141 and 142. However, the cam follower 100 can experience catastrophic failure of the swaged area 160 and unintentional disassembly when the cam follower 100 is subject to high thrust loads. The cam follower 100 is difficult to manufacture because the formation of the shoulder 132 requires additional machining operations and waste of material. In addition, the formation of the swaged area 160 complicates the assembly process, for example, by requiring the first row of rollers 111 to be installed via the distal end 130D, installing the first end plate 151 and swaging 160 the first end plate 151 to the stud 130; and by requiring the second row of rollers 112 to be installed via an opposing end of the stud 130 and securing the second end plate 152 to the stud 130.
Based on the foregoing, there is a need for cam follower assemblies that are easy to assembly and can withstand high thrust loads.